


Answer That

by womeninthesequel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Female James Potter, Fluff and Angst, Hogwarts, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28443774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/womeninthesequel/pseuds/womeninthesequel
Summary: “What are you going to do?” Jamie said, her hair sticking up from the way she ran her fingers through it several times in the past few minutes. “Sleep in the common room?”“Do you really want me to answer that?”“Evans.”
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 17
Kudos: 25
Collections: Fem! Jily





	Answer That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theroomofreq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroomofreq/gifts).



“I’m not doing this right now.” Lily stood and jerked the covers from her bed. It took the pillow with it, but Lily snatched it from the floor. She hugged it tight to her side while she scowled at the place where her tucked blanket stuck under the mattress.

“What are you going to do?” Jamie said, her hair sticking up from the way she ran her fingers through it several times in the past few minutes. “Sleep in the common room?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Evans.”

Instead of answering, Lily pulled on her blanket again and got it free from her mattress. She turned away, for all appearances fully intent on marching down the stairs and doing just that.

“Evans!” Jamie called again. She dove from her side of the room to the doorway, throwing her arms wide to prevent Lily from walking downstairs. “Can’t we talk about this?”

“No.” She crossed her arms, hair still in the messy bun she pulled it into an hour ago and the pillow almost hitting her in the face. Her lip stuck out in a stubborn pout.

Jamie desperately wanted to kiss her.

“Don’t you think you might be -”

“Don’t you dare say I’m overreacting, Potter. I swear, I’ll -”

“No!” Jamie said quickly, hand jumping to her hair again. She was about to say that, but she knew better than saying it now. 

Lily eyed her suspiciously. 

“Cold!” she amended, her voice cracking. “Don’t you think you might be cold? All alone in the common room all night, I mean.”

“I’ll manage,” Lily replied stiffly.

“Evans, please,” Jamie said, her shoulders caving. “I don’t want to fight.” 

“You’re the one who said -”

“I know. I’m an idiot. I was teasing, but it doesn’t matter.” 

Again, Lily said nothing, but this silence was different. Her eyes stayed on Jamie. 

To anyone else, it might not have been giving an inch, but Jamie knew this could be a mile if she said the right things. Lily was making a path for her.

“Please,” Jamie said quietly. “I don’t want you to go.” 

Lily’s arms stayed crossed, but Jamie saw a wavering flicker of emotion in her expression. Some of the angry energy in her shoulders softened. Another time, Jamie might have crossed the small space between them, but she wasn’t sure how that would be received. Her fingers itched to touch Lily, but she had to be careful. She had to know when were the right times to get close and pull away.

Lily could be like this. Bright and kind and everything good in the world at once. Her smile made the darkest parts of the castle come to life and the butterflies in Jamie’s stomach beat their wings. Other times, sometimes in a flash, she could be a moving storm, ready to strike.

Jamie studied her long enough to know that it wasn’t hatred or darkness that caused this. It wasn’t that Lily didn’t feel as strongly for her as Jamie felt. Admittedly, it was hard to love someone who didn’t always speak the same love language, but that didn’t mean Jamie didn’t want to try.

For Lily Evans, Jamie Potter would always try. 

This was fear. This was Lily building a wall around herself that Jamie always wanted to be inside. She wanted to help her put up the bricks, if that’s what Lily needed. The world was scary and dark, and they were two teenagers who didn’t know how to save themselves. 

Jamie knew, from the time she was eleven and got told off by the redhead in her Hogwarts Express compartment, that her life was going to revolve around the girl who couldn’t let injustice sit. She would be by her side, pushing back whatever tried to hurt her, even if it was her own stubbornness and fear.

“Lily,” Jamie said, taking a chance and a step toward her. “Come to bed.” 

“Don’t joke about that, Potter. What you said before. You’re too important to me. You’re too...”

“I know.” 

Lily sniffed and held the pillow more tightly to her, like she was waiting for Jamie’s next sentence. When an excuse or further explanation didn’t come, her shoulders fell from their place by her ears. 

This time, Jamie knew that it was the right move to reach for Lily and hug her tightly. 

“All right, Evans?”

She felt Lily’s head move in a nod. Instead of gripping the pillow, Lily wrapped her arms around Jamie’s waist and found the now familiar crook of Jamie’s neck. Jamie pulled her closer, letting the soft vanilla scent of her hair be a comfort. 

Jamie was going to be there, she knew. Even when things were hard or scary. Even when Lily’s instinct was to push her away because she wanted the opposite. 

“We’re going to be all right,” Jamie whispered into her hair. “Until the very end.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @women-inthe-sequel!


End file.
